Still Day Beneath The Sun
by Menominee
Summary: Ganon's death brought peace and Zelda took the throne. Restoration of Hyrule began, but a neighbouring country wronged by her father's old campaigns reignited conflict.  As a Queen without a King, Zelda sought out the only man she'd ever loved.
1. The Fields of Hyrule

If there were any people to be seen, they weren't anywhere near the market. She must have been one of the only people brave - or foolish - enough to be roaming outside during the most intense lightstorm anyone alive could remember. _If only those childish knights-errant could see me out here_, she thought to herself with a satisfied smile. _Calling themselves brave, taunting me...not one of them out in the open. All of them hiding in their guard-towers. Blasted cowards!_

Lightning and thunder excited her ever since she was a child, but this storm seemed unnaturally volatile. The clouds blocking the afternoon sun were nearly black and everything was as dim as early evening. Even the storms that caused the floods eight years ago hadn't come from a sky this dark; the clouds on that day were peacefully dark-grey in comparison to this. Even the lightning was..._more_ this time than she'd ever seen. Every other second brought a streaking bolt that flashed so bright she could see each brick on buildings two arrow-shots away. The storm seemed odd enough, but when she'd walked past the temple courtyard not long before, a flash of light allowed her to notice that even the Temple of Time was deserted. The ordained revered lightstorms with absolute regard and a complete lack of fear, because to them, it was a sacred thing. If even they were afraid to expose themselves, then being outside couldn't be safe.

A jolt of irritating half-pain came from her feet and slowed her down to a careful walk. She regretted that she'd forgotten her shoes in her impatience, for the end of her path was covered in uncomfortable gravel. _No matter. I'm getting close_, she thought, a giddy, unusual excitement threatening to push through her throat like vomit. _Once these buildings are out of the way, I will be able to see everything_.

Gravel gave way to mud and puddles before she reached the guardhouse beside the closed drawbridge. She'd always felt sorry for the guards. Protecting the capital city from vagrants and fell enemies was a worthy job and a source of pride for most of these men, but unless they were fighting off such opponents, the job seemed monotonous at best. None of the guards would dare deny Zelda passage on any day, and the ones in the gate guardtowers now seemed shaken and distracted. Still, she felt it best to use Wisdom to get her past the wall unnoticed. _It's my business. They wouldn't understand this curiosity of mine. Word gets around, and soon enough everyone would consider my mind afflicted. What better way to dethrone a kingless Queen than the rumor of the people? _She closed her eyes and envisioned the field right outside.

A large bolt struck the moat the moment she reappeared in the field. With no buildings between her and the sky, the flash thrilled her. She was immediately astonished by the beautiful and terrible form of the lightstorm. Memories like these always stayed in the mind, recalled willingly at times, randomly at others.

Immense clouds churned ever heavenward in the sky, casting themselves in every direction and taking forms both solid and chaotic, resembling a violent collision of turbulent ocean onto rocky earth. These were amazing enough, but what was truly awesome was the divine skyfire that darted out of them in every imaginable place and direction. It was as if the branches of an infinitely luminous tree were instantaneously growing out of the otherworld to take hold in the sky and disappear within a moment's time. Their shape and trajectory were as arbitrary as the will of the goddesses, burning the entire sky white as day, illuminating their paths and turning the clouds into lanterns. Even the air constantly crumbled and tore with its own power.

Suddenly, a bolt threw itself into the ground close enough to blind her, the thunder exploding alarmingly in her ear. Where there should have been a swelling of fear there was instead a rush of exhilaration within her chest. _Must've been a good one. I missed it. Damn! _She looked around for any signs of how close the bolt had struck, but instead she found something she did not expect. She stood still for a moment, confused and doubtful, trying to figure out if her eyes were failing her.

A few hundred feet away, standing atop a hill, was Lennyk.


	2. Old Wrongs Righted

**Hello. This is my first time posting anything I've written anywhere, so it'll be interesting to see if anyone likes it or if everyone thinks it's bollocks. It takes me a long time to write because I'm a perfectionist, it seems. A bit of good and a lot of bad from that approach, I think. **

**Anyway, all I can do is explain what I'm trying here a little bit. This is all very, very loosely based on the Ocarina of Time, using the same people and places, but with people and places added, and people and places that have nothing to do with the Ocarina of Time added because if Hyrule were as small as it is in the game, you'd figure there'd be other countries out there somewhere. Some of the names were monkeyed with, but enough to still have a trace of the old names in there. Lennyk is Link, Maylaan is Malon, and Taelann is Talon. Most of the other names of people are the same, though. Have the general idea of where I want to go, it's just the writing part that makes it take so darn long. Reviews come on their own accord, but even if it's only to tell me something about the story that sucks, that's just as welcome too. Trying to get better at this stuff, and thanks to anyone that reads this thing!**

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><p><em>I almost can't believe he's here. Him. Watching the clouds, like me. <em>Zelda froze. She hadn't seen Lennyk since they cast Ganon down, and she stopped hoping for him to come seek her out months ago. The immense weight of her responsibilities as Queen were enough to merit lost hopes for any personal thing, but she feared he was lost to her because of that last day they had been together alone. With the calm of victory came a lot of pain, pain she still felt when she thought about him. For a few moments, she closed her eyes and tried to remember him standing so close to her that day, that last smile he'd given before she drove him away.

_"It has been done," Zelda sighed, slumping limply against Lennyk as her legs gave way. "Hold me up, please, I can't stand now. Too tired." He was tired too, but he could tell that she was worse off. Without saying a word, he sat on the broken stone next to them, setting her down with him and holding her against his chest. _

_Everything they strove for the last seven years was done. Ganon was dead, lying prostrate and motionless on the ground, and both the Hero and the Princess he'd fought for sat side by side, silent. The thunderous clouds that covered the sky these last seven years slowly billowed apart to reveal a setting sun. No more thunder, no rain. The quiet had come so suddenly. For the first time since they were children starting on this path, Lennyk and Zelda had time to reflect on the things that there had never been time for. The Triforce pieces reflected the hearts of their owners, and through that divine artifact, they could finally think of what their hearts were made of. _

_Zelda truly was wise for such a young woman. Even as a child, she'd always sought knowledge. She was studied in Hyrule's history and the responsibilities of the Royal Family, and because she was a princess so exposed to people, she knew what they loved, hated and feared, and how to treat them justly. Her mother had been dying slowly from a chest sickness for as long as she could remember, and with the troubling appearance of Ganon at her father's court, her wisdom availed her nothing against the fear of her father's intrigues with an enemy people, and the fear for her mother that she'd always had. _

_It wasn't until Ganon usurped the throne and captured the capital city that her fears became real things. The Hylian people were forced into slavery or imprisonment under the Gerudo, and those who could flee ran into exile. Her father had been forced to abdicate his throne. He was slowly tortured and killed as a token of what Ganon had called "vengeance for the old King," and her mother died as her guardian, Impa, desperately fled with both of them on horseback. If not for Ganon, she would've ruled after her father Harkenaan had died. She was the only heir. Most of her wisdom had knowingly been forged in preparation for the day the crown was hers. The Triforce showed to her now that she lacked true understanding for the citizens her father had ruled. She pitied them for their oppression under Ganon, and she feared for them, but she never understood them. A true Queen would need to._

_Ganon had always been strong, but his strength was that of a man who used it for his own ends. Being the only Gerudo man in his generation guaranteed him the throne that had been vacant since before he'd been born. The last King to sit in that throne had been killed when the just-crowned King Harkenaan returned from his famous defeat in Dardanus, a neighboring country. His conquered legions passed through the Gerudo desert to speed their return, but were denied passage through the Gerudo city because the Gerudo and the Hylians had never been allies. _

_With no other choice, the Hylians desperately fought to get through the city and back home. Hundreds were killed on both sides, including the Gerudo king. By the time Ganon was born, then, the Gerudo's old distrust for Hylians was now hatred. He grew up indoctrinated with this hatred. It was one with his rule as King and his lust for more power, making the Triforce the only suitable weapon to slake his avarice and lay the Hylians low. He found the Triforce of Power by following in the Hero's shadow and through his greed, making his power as unstable and wild as greed makes all men. This new power of his is what eventually led to his death by the Hero._

_It was Lennyk who killed him with the Sword. Lennyk really did have courage. Genuine courage. It allows for no arrogance, because the arrogant will always fear something, whether it is the reproach of others, the loss of pride, or death. He faced all of Hyrule's dangers without hesitation or fear. He never fled from the darkness he fought against, no matter how close death followed him as the Hero of Time that was forseen long ago. He'd done it all for the safety of the kingdom's people, and never hesitated to help those in need. _

_But even with all the bravery and kindness he possessed, his weakness was the self-doubt that his trials had morphed into self-hatred. Self-hatred is a sickness. It floats over the heart, always there, over the heart. Those who are remembered as their own worst enemies all express this feeling that weighs on the chest, felt like any other physical sensation. Most do not remember when it started, or if it could ever end, but they all remember it being there. The only time that Lennyk remembered having true peace was during the Seven Years, when he slumbered in the Sacred Realm. That peace never returned but in short bursts. _

_After a long time spent in silence, Lennyk looked down at Zelda, who still lay on his chest. Neither of them had noticed their hands had clasped together, and neither of them felt odd about it, or felt the need to say anything. With her other hand, she traced over his collarbone, exposed by the torn tunic. All his muscles hurt, but the light tickle of her fingers relaxed him enough that he smiled. "Nothing to say, innit," he chuckled, pressing a gentle kiss against her cheek. For those couple seconds, he truly felt a bit of peace. These times, rare as they were, were the only times his true, honest spirit showed. "I've always loved you, and you know that."_

_In a sudden jerk, Zelda stood up. Lennyk didn't expect such quick movement from someone twice as fatigued as he. With a sudden gap where she was just sitting, he fell onto the ground with a dull thud, cursing. He fought with his burning muscles and slowly stood up, thinking that he had somehow crossed a hidden line with her. His face showed this fear clearly to Zelda, and for a few moments all she could do was shake her head._

_"Lennyk, my brave, dear Lennyk," she sighed, "I too have loved you for longer than I can tell. I wish we could stay there on that rock for days, just you and me. But just because we finished our task here doesn't mean it's all over." Her lips curled into a mournful sort of smile, and her eyes looked aside. She'd always hoped that this end would allow her to be with the man she'd come to love, but she knew that the responsibilities before her now would leave no time for something as simple and peaceful as that. _

_Lennyk understood. The Hylians were no longer servants to the dark King who crowned himself by force. "Our countrymen are free, but they don't know that," he started, "their shackles and their servitude will hold their bodies and their minds until we bring the message that Ganon lives no more." He knew the full meaning of Zelda's words, and his voice brought her relief. She nodded. "When we have freed them all, we can begin to rebuild the cleft in this kingdom. Your true place will soon be on the throne, with free men at your absolute service." He knelt in front of her, taking both of her hands and kissing them softly. "I'm unworthy of the love of a queen." _

_She bid him stand and kissed him gently. "You are the only man I could ever love." Her eyes glittered with kindness, seeming to stare right through him. "Our names have been bound together since years beyond count, when our people still lived in the sky. That time has been forgotten, and we are mere specks in that line. But we are destined to heal Hyrule's stains until our souls are brought back into new bodies, when these bodies standing here now have long been returned into the soil of the land."_

_"What in the world are you talking about?" Lennyk cocked his head in puzzlement, his eyebrows raised. "I never heard anything about any of that!" Zelda couldn't help laughing at the confused way he looked at her. "You didn't get Wisdom for nothing, it seems. So you're saying we're going to do this over, and over, and over again until Goddesses know when?" _

_"Yes."_

_He began to look troubled. "That seems a bit cruel of the Goddesses, truly. All I will ever know is war?"_

_"It's our destiny. We have been blessed by the Goddesses with this duty, to be the defenders of Hyrule until the day evil is no longer an aspect of Men." She knew this conversation would be long, and she felt quite tired, but she knew Lennyk's mind, and answering his concerns would be simple, for he was a simple man. "We don't remember our last reincarnations, nor will we remember this life in the next one. The only thing our ancestors and us have in common is courage and wisdom, and the regard of Farore and Nayru. All else is given only to the life at hand, and in the next, you will not be you," she said, pressing a finger into his chest. _

_"A force of nature we are, it seems," he groaned, bringing Zelda the relief that this subject needed no more of their thought. "You put it in a way that I understand full well. Rain is necessary. So is wind, because it brings the rain. The soil brings us the grass, the trees, the crops. At least we seem to be somewhere in there, and not as shit in the cesspool, which I feel is where Ganon's nature puts him, if his evil is what follows us from this life to the next."_

_She couldn't help but laugh again. "A reasonable man. Wise in your own way, although maybe it bled from me." _

_She knew what had to come next. _

_Nervousness filled her stomach and her smile disappeared. Besides her mother and father, Lennyk was the only person she'd ever pitied with pain in her heart. She'd seen him slash his way through this war, and she saw the damage that it had thrust on his heart and mind. Most soldiers live the rest of their days silently despising their role as a bringer of death - even if that death is against an enemy - but Lennyk had begun to despise both the role and himself as its bearer. "The man who uses his sword justly has no guilt to fear," she blurted out._

_Lennyk was confused. A moment ago she'd been laughing; after a few seconds of silence, her sudden words surprised him. He wasn't sure what to say, but spoke as honestly as he could. "I wish I felt that way about all this. I do. In truth, I do." He gazed at his feet, his brow furrowed. "All I've done has been for the people, even those who treated me ill. The Hylians were the first people to see me as a person, you know. Most of the Kokiri never did. Besides Saria and a few others, most of them were blasted cunts. Ironic that my true parents were Hylian. For all I know, they're both dead now." _

_"I have seen the conflict you fight with your own self, Lennyk," Zelda said, tears threatening to come. "I never saw a good man hate himself. Not deeply like you. It comes and goes in waves, doesn't it?"_

_"Long waves. It rarely leaves, but I've gotten accustomed to it," he said with resignation, slumping and shaking his head. "Now is to fight against it. I have conquered Hyrule's demon, and now it's time for my own. A lot of work ahead, and I'm not sure where to start." _

_Zelda began to cry, kneeling down to hide her face from him. "My heart feels the fiery strain of those waves when they...overtake you. I don't know if it's the Golden Power that's tied us together, a form of communication, but it's...a feeling of warning that lets me know when you're suffering." She shuddered in the throes of her tears, and when they stopped, Lennyk lifted her up. He gently held her face in his hands and brushed the tears out of her eyes. _

_Quietly, he pressed his lips against her forehead, her cheek, her lips. She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him in as hard as she could. It was during times like these, when others suffered, that he could temporarily dispel his self-loathing and worry much more about them. Her suffering was through his suffering, and his was self-inflicted. He knew how to heal hers, and to do that he could only tell her what he did to fight against his. _

_"You feel my heart because I've thought about you since the day we met in that courtyard," he whispered, brushing his hand through her hair. "I will win this fight of mine. It's something I've had for years. But it wasn't until I saw true darkness inside another man," he said, pointing to the corpse of Ganon, "that I began to fight against my own hate. Hate like his kills, maims, corrupts. Hundreds of our countrymen are dead by his hand. It is partially from his darkness that I have my own. He hated an entire people, and I hate only myself. But I am not corrupt. I killed because the Goddesses willed it so. My days of darkness dispel my hope for peace, but that peace will come when I begin to fight even when hope is completely out of reach. These words I say I do not yet mean, that is the problem," he mourned, "but when I truly learn these things as an irreputable fact, I will be free." _

_She was so tired, so beaten, so mindful of the weight of the tasks ahead. Now that she knew Lennyk was still whole, a weight lifted off of her chest. She began to cry again. All he could do was hold her close, rocking slowly back and forth as she cried. They stayed there for a long time; the sun had long set before she stopped. She looked up at him. Her eyes were bloodshot, and there were red, swollen circles around them. "Thank you, Lennyk. I love you."_

_He smiled peacefully, kissing her again. "And I love you." _

_"Now there is something that I must do," she said in an sudden authoritative tone becoming a Queen. She took a step back and closed her eyes. The mark of Wisdom on the outside of her left hand began to shine lightly, and they waited. When she opened her eyes, she looked sure, as if she'd asked the Goddess a question that had been satisfactorily answered. Lennyk knew not to compromise her, so he waited for her to tell him what she meant. _

_"Are you ready?"_

_Lennyk nodded. "Yes. But for what?"_

_She gestured towards the Ocarina that he kept in the satchel near his baldric. "Our task has been completed. The Ocarina belongs to the stewards of the kingdom. We have always guarded it, and as Queen, I must do that duty. Hero of Time, I ask of you the Ocarina." _

_Her words were spoken almost coldly, but Lennyk gladly brought it out of the satchel, handing it to her. "It is through my naïveté that Ganon saw you the day we met. Because of my carelessness, he followed you on the mission that I was ignorant enough to give a person he'd seen. I was a child, but I had seen enough of the greed of men to recognize it in his eyes." Her eyes glimmered with tears. "You suffered seven years of limbo because of me. And now, I will do right by you and give you those years back, never to use the song again." She raised the Ocarina to her lips, and Lennyk knew what she would play._

_It would be the first and last time he spoke to her in anger. "The Song of Time was only meant as a weapon against Ganon, Zelda. He is gone now. What happens when we use it again is something neither of us knows. Who knows what darkness would lie in wait then?" he growled, pushing the Ocarina in her hands away from her mouth. His voice calmed, but was still hard as stone. "I know you would do this out of love, to spare me the suffering that this war has caused, but it is not your right. The Golden Power is not ours to use as we will, when we will, either."_

_"So I must live with the guilt of imprisoning you?" Zelda spat back, pointing at the Temple of Time. "You are not the only one who hates your own deeds."_

_"Don't dare to use that as a weapon against me!" Lennyk yelled. "I trusted you enough to tell you of my struggle with that. For me to forgive you for the Seven Years, you would have to have done wrong! If my imprisonment in the Realm was because of a traitorous windfall from your mouth to the ears of Ganon himself, then your words would have some weight!" He turned and began to walk towards the ruins of the capital. "I have only you to thank for those seven years. The only true peace I have ever known. Don't take that away from me, Queen." _

_Zelda's heart felt like it was being crushed. She ran after him, and began to walk with him. Neither of them said a word until they came into the capital proper, where they would start liberating the people. But the stinging words they had shared put a weight on their hearts. At first there been relief and hope. Now a cloud lay over it. _

_The Hylians deserved to be freed by their saviours, but it would not go well to give them this gift while weighed down with sullen personal injury, and both Zelda and Lennyk knew it. She was the first to speak. Turning slightly towards him, burning with shame, afraid to look in his eyes, she struggled for a moment. "I am sorry. I only wanted to help, so badly. I never wanted to hurt you. I love you."_

_"I understand," Lennyk acknowledged stoically. "We have loved and hurt each other both." Placing his hands on her shoulders, he nodded, the brave look that made him so handsome returning to him. "We have been given this time as a reward for our victory, and I will help you rebuild this country into what it used to be."_

_They spent the next week liberating the conquered Hylians in the capital. The Hero and the new Queen were met with resounding cheers and happiness from all that they freed, for all they had done, and most of all, for the heir of Harkenaan taking the crown. Those that were freed helped liberate the areas of the capital not yet reached. After the capital had been fully secured, there was a short, improvised coronation, attended by every man, woman and child. As Queen, Zelda promised to help the people restore the kingdom that had been taken from them. She did not mention a husband who would be King, nor a suitor whom she considered. Her heart still yearned for Lennyk, but his concern was now for the free._

_Until he left the capital for good, he spent all of his time with the people. He led search parties all across Hyrule to find any who had been in exile. During these searches many Hylians were found, praised the new Queen, and pledged loyalty to his efforts. He charged certain able men to continue the searches while he helped in the quarries that the Queen supplied with workers. These quarries would give back the missing bones of broken buildings in the capital, and rebuild in places that were destroyed. When not hauling stones with the quarrymen, he would return to the capital and assist in the reconstruction of the buildings. We was always treated with highest regard, and found that the people loved him._

_By this time Hyrule Castle had been completely restored, and workers were busy adding to the new structure. Lennyk knew it was only right to help there as well, but he was uneasy being there because he had not been able to be alone with Zelda since the day Ganon was killed. At first he'd held resentment towards her. As the restoration of the country, the capital, and its people went on, though, his desire was only to reconcile. He would sometimes think that perhaps she had forsaken him, but little did he know she yearned for healing as much as he did. But her duties as Queen and the political intrigues involved kept her away from him, and by the time she sent for him, he'd already left the capital because of the discovery of his father with the latest search party._

These memories passed through Zelda's mind within a matter of moments. Part of her wanted to just run up to Lennyk, beg for his return to the capital, and offer to reconcile with him. She still loved him, hardened as her heart could be at a time when she ruled a country still rebuilding. He was the only man she could ever consider for a husband. That would make him King. The people were saved by both of them, and they thus saw him as the only one worthy of the Queen's hand. The sky continued to flash violently, and before she could find the courage to walk to him, he'd already begun to approach her.

Countless thoughts about what to say to him poured through her as his small image got larger and larger. _Well, it will be one of two things. Either we can sort this out, or this is a bad idea and one more pain on top of last time. _She knew things happen as they will, but her heart still jumped with hope that they would no longer feel wronged by each other. She felt it right to let him speak first.

The look in his eyes was not one of hate or sadness. For a time all they could do was look at each other. Lennyk had long since cast away the green tunic and hat that he'd always worn, and wore a farmer's cloth leggings and leather boots. A linen shirt lay over his chest, untied to combat the heat the storm had brought with it. She saw on his exposed chest the marks that the war had left on his flesh, and noticed the well-kept beard he'd grown that became him well. Her change was not in the clothes covering her body. She looked a bit different from the last time he'd seen her during the liberation, but the true change was in her presence that was more solemn than before.

He knelt before her. "Zelda." All he could find to say was her name.

"Come, Lennyk," Zelda breathed, kneeling down beside him and placing a hand on his shoulder. "You know that you don't need to kneel before me. I didn't think to see you here."

Nodding, he stood up with her and pointed skyward. "I've always loved lightstorms, and this is one I've never seen act so." He looked up. "The lightning comes so fast, so quickly." He looked at her, something like concern in his eyes. "I knew that you would be out here, somehow," he said. "I remember all of those times we'd sit on that hill beside the castle when we'd hear that a storm was coming our way."

Zelda's lips curled in a gentle smile. "I remember that," she said, uncertain what to say. "Lennyk, I've wanted to see you so badly since you left the capital, but I know that you found your father, so I let it be. Your father is a farmer it seems, judging by the clothes you wear."

"Yes, he is. Or rather, he was," Lennyk said, gesturing West. "It seems as though his ancestors came hundreds of years ago from Dardanus, across the way, and because of the slight unrest they've caused on our border, he's gone with some other men to plead with Dardan lords and try to draw a truce of some kind. He hopes that his Dardanian name of Anders, a name of one of their old kings, will convince them to listen to him as a descendent of the country."

"Dardanus still feels ill about my father's old campaigns there," Zelda advised, concerned. "From what my messengers tell me, they're testing the waters with us as a way of showing that I must hold talks with them. I intend to enter that conversation in order to remind them that my father's misdeeds aren't my own, and that we have our own interests to sort out before interfering with another country's interests." She made a frustrated wave of the hand. "Your father served in my father's guard years ago, and no doubt has some of the old soldier left in him, but I fear his plea will be a danger he will pay for."

"I'm no fool to politics and their dangers," Lennyk acknowledged, in a tone of deference. "I intend to follow him there, to bring him back. That's why I came out here, to find a bit of peace amidst this beauty above before I must leave. That and I somehow felt as though I'd see you here too."

The familiar sound of his voice, and the gleam of the eyes that she adored in him, gave her the courage to speak her mind clearly and freely. "Thank the Goddesses that you were here," she began, laying a hand on his arm. "I had need to speak with you for this entire year that you have been out of my sight. Those cold words we shared were from the heightened passions of our war-torn spirits. I remember them like they were spoken a moment ago, but I also remember and treasure the small time I had with you before that, sitting on that rock." She smiled. "You didn't have a beard then. You looked strapping without one, and strapping with one now. A kingly looking beard."

Lennyk could sense the meaning behind those words, and steeled himself for what he meant to tell her. "Thank you. Those things were the same things I wanted to tell you. You merely wanted to right what you thought you caused, and I did you wrong with my callous refusal and the abuse of my words."

Bowing his head before her, he took her hand. "The love that is in my heart for you was tarnished for a time by my anger towards you, but that anger faded. I love you still. But," he continued, a change in his voice like that of sadness, "I do not know when the time will come that I can give it. I leave for Dardanus as soon as I can find enough men, and Goddesses only know how long this journey will take. I used to believe I was unworthy of being a king, but I love my people, and the only worthy king is a man who does. I go for my father, and I go in respect of the kingdoms in our midst, in a hope that we can respect one another." He kissed Zelda's hand, and his noble words calmed her. "It is unfair to make promises until I return, if I return alive."

"I wasn't sure what words to expect from you, love," Zelda crooned, laying a hand on his chest. "In truth, I was expecting an angry stare and hard curses. I will help you in this task you have taken, and you will have no want of arms by me."

When he was younger and full of the pride that the young see as part and parcel of honorable purpose, he would have refused what she offered. War, reconciliation, and restoration of the country had changed him since then, so he thankfully agreed. Before he could speak again, Zelda pulled him towards her and kissed him, relief, thankfulness and passion in equal measure. He held her around her waist strongly, and her arms wrapped around his neck. They lost count of time before they parted, the light still flashing in the clouds around them.

They didn't speak for a long time. They sat down on the hill they stood on, just like they would have as children, and watched the clouds slowly swirl and the lightning dart out. Eventually Zelda stirred; she must have been gone from the castle for nearly two hours now, and even though the lightstorm dispelled the expectation of anyone being outside, it would be unbecoming of the Queen to remain away for any longer. With a smile, she bade Lennyk stand.

"You have made me happy again, Lennyk," she said, kissing him again quickly.

"And me," he replied. "Once this thing is done, I will return. I will find you, and we can stop pretending that love is something that has to be avoided."

"Before you leave," Zelda instructed, "come to the castle within the next three days. I will be leaving to give counsel to the Sages in the Gorons' city by then. Come to the castle; you know the respect of the guards for you. You ask for me, I will get you, and we will make sure you're not lacking in money with which to procure arms from the smithy."

"I appreciate this more than you can know."

"It's the least I can do," she replied. "Let me know the number of men you plan on taking, and we'll come to a total." It wasn't until now that it started to rain. It was light and slow at first, but in a matter of minutes Zelda and Lennyk were soaked to the bone. With a giggle, she kissed him one last time. "I have to go," she yelled. "Come as soon as you can!" Using Wisdom to get her back to her chambers, she disappeared.

Lennyk sighed in satisfaction. This meeting was something he'd somehow expected, but it went much better than he thought possible. He'd spent the last year thinking that Zelda had forgotten about him willingly, or hated him, or couldn't forgive him. Those fears filled his chest with that heavy weight that came and went; since the last time he saw her, however, he'd fought very well against this self-hate and had eventually tamed it into something that became much less troubling. It was only when he let the past be the past that this could happen.

Now, his only concerns were for the time he had. He began to walk towards Maylaan and Taelann's farm, which would take nearly four hours to reach on foot. The land they had sold his father Anders was connected to theirs, so he was keeper of this new land and helped Maylaan and her father attend to theirs. Unfortunately for him on this day, it was a gigantic lightstorm, so taking Epona out would not have worked. Thunderstorms made her uncomfortable, but there was something about the sacred elements of its superior, the lightstorm, that scared her to death. _I will sleep well tonight at least, _he thought, still mystified by the swirling clouds and the lightning. _A good day, and a good sleep to reward it. _


	3. A Bitter Departure

**Sometimes it takes such a long time to finish chapters. I feel like I'm almost done, then it's an hour later and I'm not even close. Although there are some things about this story that I didn't see as kind of strange until getting done with this chapter. A weird thing I've noticed is that Talon (Taelann) is a guy I imagine with a British accent for some reason. Same thing with Malon's (Maylaan's) mother. You'll see. Although everyone in the story thus far seems to have an old British-like way of speaking anyway. So in my defense, any words that are excessively offensive in American culture are ones I'm using with the less acidic meaning the British give them. Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoy!**

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><p>Maylaan's hands shook. A single bead of nervous sweat crept slowly down her cheek, distracting her immensely. Fitting for her nerves that the last precisely-chiseled design be the most important, she thought, muttering curses under her breath. With every curve, every shape, an agonizingly difficult maneuver was required to make the desired effect. Even the way one used the knife was difficult, held as a quill, goaded on by a finger on the opposite hand. This made any slips of the hand most unfortunate; she had some very noticeable scars on her fingers from her dabbling in the potter's art. Still, she could be glad she did not have the ability and subsequent abundance of injuries that her mother did. She would never experience the pleasure of holding someone's hand, for fear he'd run off in disgust at her studded fingers.<p>

Finally, with a precise push, it was finished. She breathed a sigh of relief and set the knife down. She shook the soreness out of her hands, sat back, and gently picked up the jug to look at the result. It was surprising how much she'd improved. The first time she'd tried was a year ago, and that first jug had looked so questionable that its only use now was distributing grain to the cuccos.

Moravik had the same approval when she came in to check on her daughter. Had she soundlessly appeared behind Maylaan and spoke without warning like mothers tend to do, the jug may well have been in pieces on the floor. Fortunately, Maylaan had heard the door open. "Ye are gettin' better," Moravik said, leaning over and taking a closer look. "Really very good, me daughter, makin' pots so well now an' that. Should fetch a good price."

"I suppose," Maylaan sighed, affectionately running her finger along the elaborate etchings.

"Sad thing, innit," Moravik chuckled in a warm and consoling tone, running her fingers through Maylaan's hair. "When ye start gettin' attached to ye work, I mean. How do ye want ye braid, child?"

"Could you start more near the shoulders? I think it looks better when it starts there."

"Oh, all right. Nae sit back, child." Silently obeying, Maylaan closed her eyes and enjoyed the relaxing feeling of her hair being pulled into the braid. She could hear the wind rustle the tree by the window while some birds had a lively conversation on its branches. The afternoon sun stained her eyelids red.

"Mother, how'd you know? About the jug, I mean."

Moravik laughed. "I'm not as old as ye think! I still have some of the young potter in me, ye know. One day I finish a jug, start runnin' my fingers over it, tryin' to remember what it looked and felt like. Oh, the thought of selling it, even for a good price…parting with it was like saying goodbye to someone."

"Do you remember who you sold it to?"

"Not somebody I'll forget soon," she sighed, remembrance in her voice. "He'd the most handsome brown eyes, and that long black hair. Still looks about the same, ye know, except for that blasted moustache."

Maylaan cocked her head. "You can't mean father?"

"A true fairytale, innit? Ye know, he wasn't hard-drinking and obnoxious like nowadays. Real shy, a bit less clumsy. The only reason he bought my favorite one was because he tripped over a rock. He flew into the booth and knocked over a couple of the cheaper ones…'e felt so bad 'e offer'd to buy the most expensive thing we had. I dinnae. I wouldn't have sold it, but the man had such a hold on me at that moment that I couldn't resist."

"He's always been clumsy," Maylaan giggled as her mother slapped her on the side of the shoulder, "even when he's stone sober. Never seen him be shy, though. Does he still have the jug he bought from you?"

"Nae. Nae, he doesn't. Wouldn't ye know, there was no rock to blame that time, only his own two feet he tripped over." They both laughed. As hard-working as Taelann was, each day came with a mishap. They always ended in curses, or something broken, or something dropped. Before Lennyk and Anders bought their southern stretch of land, it had been nothing but work on the land, and work to clean up after Taelann's latest disaster: broken fences, missing stock, crops accidentally unbundled. Restoring order used to be a chore done begrudgingly. Fortunately for them, ever since Lennyk came to stay nearby, this chore became much less common. He was the farmhand to both his father and the clumsy father of the woman that had known him since they crossed paths at the capital market years ago.

She'd always held him in high regard. There seemed to be more to that regard now. The light feeling that tingled in her chest when she saw him felt like what she imagined love to be. She'd never felt love. Before Lennyk became her neighbor, love was not a concern of hers. Like everyone else, her first concern was to forget the seven years crushed by Ganon.

Without warning, their farm was suddenly overrun and walled away by the Gerudo legion. In a matter of days, it was cut off to all except those that Ganon allowed in and out. The farm became akin to a small citadel. Maylaan and her family were its prisoners, its slaves. Before Ganon, her father had been lazy. After suffering the whips of his new masters, and seeing his wife and daughter suffer under the same whips, he quickly tempered into a hard man and compliant worker. He protected them as well as he could with back-breaking labor, and through his example, they became the same hard and compliant workers as he.

The liberation had been sudden for most, but for Maylaan's family, it happened slowly and nearly claimed their lives. The blood-colored clouds that had swirled over the capital for seven years disappeared with no warning one day. Taking this to be a sign of some sort, the Gerudo women shackled the three of them, forced them into the empty grain-tower, and barricaded them in. There was no food or light inside. They waited for what felt like a week at the least, barely able to move, becoming overwhelmed by the stone-heavy prod of hunger. They began to resign themselves to death.

Fatigue, hunger, silence, and fear blended together the days until Lennyk came. Taelann had jerked suddenly, swearing that there was a sliver of light appearing on his right side. Before Moravik or Maylaan could debate or deny him, they were all blinded. A cry of wrath that Maylaan recognized followed the flood of light, and after more shouts, boards of wood flew past and into them. The light burned their closed eyes far more than the wood hurt them, and after the first few moments, fear disappeared. When they could see clearly again, Lennyk was kneeling beside them, sawing through their shackles until all three were free.

They'd been barricaded in for nearly two weeks. Knowing that movement would exhaust them, he quickly ran out, returning with two large blankets and a cart full of hay. Spreading the hay on the floor and laying the blankets out, he begged them to sit. He returned a second time with food that he took from the now-abandoned shed the Gerudo had used as their base camp. The three of them needed no motivation; they fell to. In a matter of minutes, the cucco meat and grain bread Lennyk brought were gone. It was thanks to him that from that day on, they could pick up the remnants of their life and return to peace.

"There ye are, love," Moravik chortled, rubbing her daughter's shoulders, "Ye hair is done." She turned around, searched the small dresser near the hallway door, and brought out a mirror. She held it in front of Maylaan's face, moving it slowly to and fro before her. "Ye see? That look all right?"

Maylaan smiled in satisfaction. Lennyk's eyes always loitered on her a tad longer when the braid looked like this. "Thank you, Mum, I appreciate your help." She leant back, her hands holding the small of her back. She never did her pottery work for short periods of time; at the shortest, an hour or two, but usually more. It was fortunate that there was always some work to be done on the land, because leaning over for a long time brought back pain to the old and the young alike. She felt more relaxed after a bit and stood up. She took one last look at her finished work.

"Ye better get out there, child," her mother started, sounding a bit distracted. "Lennyk only returned late, late last night. Before Taelann was even out of bed this morning, the lad had already sorted out the food for the cuccos, the cows, the pigs, and the horses. The horses were brushed, he gave me a few of the eggs that my old, lazy husband loves for breakfast so much, and he milked the cows. The milk is ready to go to the market, by the by. As always, it's going to the capital," Moravik groaned. "The only ones I respect there are the soldiers. All the rest are a bunch of patrician twats. Have ye seen their women? I didn't know people could see straight with chins tilted so high."

"I feel sorry for Zelda, really," her daughter replied. "Being a Queen means your own problems, and everyone else's piled on top. I can only imagine how much whining the lords do, much less anyone else, when an audience is asked for."

"Everyone except the good, honest workers. That's what I'll believe, even if it's not always true. To have shelter and a steady supply of food is all people need, by rights. The rest is just excess fortune, or inheritance, or simply being born in a certain family. Enough of this, girl, get out there!" Moravik quickly gestured outside. "Lennyk is about to take the milk to the capital. Ye father has offered to repay his good grace by finishing the tasks the young lad didn't have time for on his land." She kissed Maylaan on the cheek while she watched the two men outside.

"And wouldn't ye know! They're having the good grace your father brought back from Kakariko Village two weeks ago. Preemptive payment to the lad, it seems. I knew Lennyk wasn't a stranger to ale, but I didn't know he could handle keeping up with old Iron-Stomach himself." All of a sudden, her face gave away a hint of worry. "Daughter, ye know what he's going to say. He's going out there, and all the words ye yelled at him the last time didn't do any good. I know ye were worried weeks ago, when news came that Anders was gone." With no reply, and a hiccup of sadness, Maylaan left the room, walked down the stairs, and went out to the bench by the barn where Lennyk and Taelann were carousing.

Taelann was in the middle of one of the slurred exclamations that came when he drank. Vulgarity and shouting were always evenly mashed together. "Shite! You fah'king cunt!" Despite her anxiety, Maylaan couldn't help but smile as he slammed a rupee flat on the ground in frustration. "My stomach is larger than yours will ever be, and I've drunk more ale than a Zora can breathe water! How is this? Are you a fah'king fish too? That's the last time I put coin in a game with you." With a laugh, he filled up both their mugs from the cask he and Lennyk had set by the loaded milk cart. "Bollocks. All bollocks."

"Say what you want," Lennyk teased, a slight dip in his voice. "Win some, lose some. Keep your coin, because if I come back from this alive, I will have enough to keep your family and mine well-off for a bit. Enough for another cask of this for you, Your Highness. Maybe you'll beat me next time."

Just then, Taelann noticed his daughter coming towards them. "Damn. Don't worry about her," he said in a quick attempt at encouragement. He stood up quickly, and Lennyk followed suit. Taelann leaned towards him to tell him what he could. "My daughter is merely fond of you - she's - I - there's no time. This is not my business. She loves you, I believe, and that's why she was the way she was when she found out." Stepping backwards with a stumble now and again, he nodded. "Be safe, lad."

Maylaan saw them talking, and suspected that her name had come up. She wasn't close enough to hear them, but close enough to say his name for him to hear. "Lennyk." He answered by looking into her eyes, and the look on his face was not fear. He looked reserved, as though staring at a stranger.

He wasn't sure where to start, or how their meeting would end, but he steeled himself as well as he could and took the first step. "Maylaan, let's not talk about the last time we spoke. We both remember it, and it'll serve no purpose now." With a shake of the head and a sad sinking of his eyelids, he placed a hand on her shoulder. "If you need your father, he'll be on my land until late afternoon, probably. I'll take this milk to the capital. How much do you get paid for a cart's worth?"

"200 Rupees at the most," Maylaan uttered quietly. "Are you going to come back with it?"  
>"There's no time for that," he replied, taking a small bag out of his pocket, peering into it, and counting the money inside. He took her hand and placed the bag in it. "There's 320 in there. That will account for the cart being gone until I can pass back this way with it. In a week, no longer. Most likely it will be sooner than that."<p>

The things Taelann just told him made him understand why Maylaan was so angry the first time he brought this up. Maybe, as a balance for the blessing of Courage, the goddesses cursed him with the ability to invoke the anger of any woman who knew him, or worse, who loved him. With resignation, he sat back down on the bench. "You will see me one more time, then, before I leave. I don't know how long this is going to take, but when it is done, I will come back. Dardanus is nothing more than the name of the soil my father stands on, and I will quickly take him off of it, and back here."

Maylaan shook her head and knotted her eyebrows. "I still can't understand. Why are you doing this?" She buried her face in her hands. "What will you possibly be able to accomplish? You might not find him!" She looked at him angrily, pointing a shaking arm away from him towards the West. "You'll die, or you'll come back with an arm missing, or not able to walk."

"I know the danger out there. I'm not a damn fool," Lennyk said harshly, and immediately regretted the sound of his voice. He sighed. "Sorry, Maylaan." He reached his hand over to her shoulder, but she swatted it away. "Look, woman. This is not what I want either." He shook his head. He'd never shown her bad grace until now, and the feeling of guilt that tugs at the stomach was worsened by her refusing to even look at him. "I don't want this any more than you do. But I have to find him. He and his men are all from the old days, and we both know those days are far past them. You've seen how stooped my father is getting." She sat still and did not respond to him, the limp resignation of a woman accepting that her man must leave, hoping that a sudden coldness towards him will persuade the man to choose her. But she would not win this one, because he was not what one could call her man.

Bothered by her stillness, he sighed and let her be. He looked intently at her as he tried to pick the right words to say. Silence surrounded them for a second before he spoke again. "I know what you're afraid of. I'm afraid too. I've known you longer than I've known the Queen, that blasted Ruto, Darunia, all of them. But I have to do this, Maylaan. I must follow my father. I've gathered thirty-five men of like mind to my side. Those Dardans have been picking at us on the border garrisons, and we will give them a good fright or two. We are ready to begin our march in two days. We'll save those old fools."

"But what if things go wrong for you and your father?" Tears sparkled in the corners of her eyes, and she gently wrapped a hand around his neck. "I can't lose you, Lennyk. You know how I feel. I couldn't live with myself if you died." Lennyk's heart knew what she said was true, from a place deep in her heart, and although his mind always fought the warmth of others, his face could not stop from showing the acknowledgment of her words.

"That will not happen." His voice was peaceful. "I've been preparing for this the day he left." To comfort her, he explained everything, down to the smallest detail. Most of the men he'd recruited were old brothers-in-arms, men who fled from Ganon's occupation not to hide away as exiles, but to fight against him. Most of their original number had been killed, but those that were left were inseparable, as good soldiers must be.

His Seven Years done, Lennyk had been instructed by the Sheikah to make for the Temple of the Wood, in order to counsel with the Sages on how Ganon could be brought to his end. Lennyk had thus met with these rebels by chance. They'd set up camp deep in the eastern forest. This forest, which they affectionately called the "Lost Woods," stretched eastward farther than a bird in the sky could see. It was in this forest that the Temple of the Wood lay, and in search for the hidden temple, Lennyk had run across these men.

They joined his cause. Rumors about the Hero of Time from legend blew in the wind with regularity, and the description of the Hero as a man clad in green was nearly enough for the rebels to accept him immediately. Men at war wall themselves in with suspicion, however, as a defense against men they do not know; only through harsh interrogation did the brave and honorable heart of Lennyk show itself to them. Upon seeing the glow of the Triforce of Courage on his left hand, they honored the endorsement of his Goddess, and the necessity of the journey she required of him. The tasks that were only his to bear were the scouring of the Temples, the eradication of the wights that haunted them, and the rescue of the Sages imprisoned by Ganon's iron will. In all else, his new allies were with him until the end.

He described to Maylaan the doughtiness of his men-at-arms, the coming recruit of ten new men, and the arms that the Queen of Hyrule promised them all. "I can't stay here, Maylaan," he sighed when she laid her head on her knees. "It's my _father_. I thought he was dead for years until the day he came to me. Our lives are one life, shared. I have to find him."

In her heart, Maylaan knew that he was speaking the truth. She took four deep breaths and sat up, looking at him with a knotted brow, lips parted in grievance. "Be safe," she cried, clutching his hand. "Only fight the ones who leave you no choice." Her shoulders shuddered. "I want you to find him. Bring him back. My eyes will dart westward every moment I'm awake. I won't rest until I see you walk out of the valley." She struggled through her sobs to say the words, and now she had no more heart to speak.

Lennyk's heart wrenched with pity. His pity for others used to pulse alongside his hatred for the path he walked on, and it wasn't until he found his father that he could begin to erase this shadow. The return of his father was, to him, a sign from above; there was nothing to forgive, no wrongdoings to be punished by the Goddesses. To see such a close friend weep so terribly for him made him want to weep with her. He held her for a long time, pressing many kisses on her forehead before he had to leave.

He said goodbye to all of them before taking Epona and tethering her to the milk cart. He gave words of encouragement to each of them. Moravik nearly crushed him with a worried embrace. Taelann, ever the man, shook his hand roughly and clapped his shoulder. Maylaan could only wave weakly at him as he mounted Epona and left them standing behind him. He looked back at them until his downhill course hid them from his view.


End file.
